Spoofing technique for transparent proxy caching

Abstract

In one embodiment, a proxy device in a computer network receives a redirected client request having a request source address as a client address and a request source port as a client port. The proxy device then decides whether to serve, proxy, or bypass the client request, and in response to deciding to proxy the client request, forwards the client request to a corresponding server with the request source address as the client address and the request source port altered to a selected proxy port value corresponding to the proxy. In addition, the proxy device may then receive a redirected server reply for the client request that has a reply destination address as the client address and a reply destination port as the selected proxy port value, wherein the redirected server reply is received from a forwarding device based on selected proxy port value within the reply destination port.